Public divided over South Shore Hospital merger deal

WEYMOUTH – The owner of the New England Patriots, a top defense contractor, a former attorney general and a bevy of local and state officials are for it.

Two gubernatorial candidates, a group of economists and a pair of health policy experts are against the deal to allow Partners HealthCare to acquire South Shore Hospital.

South Shore residents and labor groups are split.

Those are the lines being drawn over the controversial deal hammered out by Attorney General Martha Coakley and Partners, the state’s largest health care provider, in comments submitted as part of a court-mandated period for the public to weigh in.

Coakley’s office posted the comments on its website Tuesday. The 84 comments posted so far were about evenly divided for and against the proposal, which is being reviewed by a Suffolk Superior Court judge.

The deal would let Partners take over the 378-bed Weymouth hospital and Harbor Medical Associates, a group of 65 physicians on the South Shore, as well as two hospitals north of Boston. In exchange, all the hospitals would be subject to price caps and Partners wouldn’t be able to expand anymore in eastern Massachusetts for much of the next decade.

“We can’t believe your position on these vultures that you are going to let get bigger on our backs,” one commenter, whose name was redacted by the state, said in an email to Coakley’s office.

Other opponents of the deal said the attorney general’s office lacks the ability to enforce controls on Partners. Some worried about job cuts at the hospital and that prices would soar.

“There is NO oversight commission strong enough, or well funded enough, to enforce this crazy deal over the many years of its term,” another commenter, whose name was also redacted, wrote.

In a letter released last week, 21 economists from some of the nation’s top universities said the loss of competition would outweigh any benefits from a merger.

Partners and the hospital say a merger would expand access to top quality care for people living on the South Shore and help control health care costs over time.

But the state’s Health Policy Commission reviewed the proposal and predicted it would drive up costs and crowd out competition without significantly improving care. A coalition of Partners’ competitors has also criticized the deal, saying it would solidify Partners’ dominance in an already unbalanced market.

Don Berwick and state Treasurer Steve Grossman, who are running against Coakley in the Democratic gubernatorial primary also submitted comments opposing the deal.

Christopher Loh, a spokesman for Coakley’s office defended the deal, saying it did more to rein in Partners’ growth than trying to sue to block the South Shore Hospital merger.

“We are confident that this consent judgment does more to control health costs for consumers and alter Partners’ business practices than any lawsuit would have potentially achieved,” he said in an email. “We look forward to discussing this agreement with the court.”

The deal has also won support from Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, whose family’s Kraft Center for Community Health is connected to Partners; Waltham-based defense contractor Raytheon; Weymouth Mayor Susan Kay; Town Councilor Ed Harrington; and former Attorney General Tom Reilly.

“My understanding is that the provisions of the agreement negotiated between Partners HealthCare and the Attorney General create a closely monitored process to contain costs and maintain needed community services for years to come,” Kraft wrote. “I fully endorse these efforts to sustain this commitment and I look forward to many more years of collaboration with Partners HealthCare.”

Pam Wilmot, executive director of Massachusetts Common Cause, said input from public comment periods can have a significant bearing on decision makers.

“It’s got a lot of value,” she said of having a comment period. “It’s an important part of the system. People need to weigh in when they feel strongly or have particular expertise to share.”

The public comment period continues through Sept. 15. A court hearing on the deal is scheduled for Sept. 29.

Reach Christian Schiavone at cschiavone@ledger.com or follow him on Twitter @CSchiavo_Ledger.